A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944Quotes
I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
—Frederick the Great, c. 1770The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.
—Immanuel Kant, 1784Politics is the art of the possible.
—Otto von Bismarck, 1867Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968